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[Fireaxe]

Games like Rift and Aion are pretty at launch, but very quickly become dated, and end up looking plain ugly. Every time I've gone back to WoW, it only takes maybe 15 minutes to re-adjust to the aesthetic and I'm enjoying it all over again. Blizzard struck a goldmine with that look.

You know Blizzard has done at least one fairly noticeable graphics upgrade on WoW since release right?


I commented in the "things we don't miss from old games" thread that 2D graphics that accepted their 2D nature and ran with it usually held up looks wise, to me Warcraft 2 (released in 1995) is the ideal example.

Some of the things I like about those graphics beyond the "it looks nice"; you can clearly tell 2 units of the same type from different teams apart (unless you are colourblind, but there's no Green as such, it's Teal, so I think that means Red/Green colourblind people who make up the majority of colourblind people, from memory, might still tell the colours apart ok), the buildings and units all have a distinct look (even the two tower types in that picture are easy to identify as different) -- it manages to be clear without being bland.

 

[loc978]

You want some timeless graphics, here ya go:

Moria, just like having a character sheet and map printed on dot-matrix printer paper. Most realistic graphics ever.

Seriously, though... stylized, cel-shaded... those are the games that tend to age well.

Spoiler: Also, strategy games with a zoom feature.

 

[War Penguin]

These people took my two choices:

LoZ: Wind Waker can be added as well. I don't think it needed an HD remake, but its not like its hurting for it.

I still think the original Wind Waker looks better than most games coming out, even if it is over ten years old:

Spoiler

I actually looked at a comparison video of the two versions of Wind Waker, and while I definitely prefer the original, since it doesn't add so many shaders/ENBs/whatever you call them, it is in need of a retexturing. But only a little and that's it! It's rough around the edges, but I still prefer it to the newer version.

Well, I remember Half Life 2 looking very good years after release. Haven't played it in a while though, so maybe it's showing its age now.

It's funny, I just recently replayed those game just to see if they held up now as they did back then and they still do... sorta. I say the same thing as I did above. All it really needs is a retexturing, since everything else is fantastic. The animations, the lighting [small](oh my GOD the lighting!)[/small], everything! Stand up close to something, and you'll definitely see some rough spots, but it still looks good!

 

[Clive Howlitzer]

I still think a lot of games have aged well personally. Sprite based games especially still look great to me. The only era of games that I think really aged poorly were early era PSX games. I feel old in that most people are listing games that are only ten years old and I am going back like twenty in my memory. I guess it is hard for me to even think of those games as old. When someone says old to me, I think WAY back.

 

[LeenaV]

I thought that Metal Gear Solid 2 seemed to hold up remarkably well the last time that I played it, considering that it came out in 2001. Supposedly, Kojima only released it on the PS2 (initially, at least) in order to fully optimize the console's abilities.

 

[AuronFtw]

You know Blizzard has done at least one fairly noticeable graphics upgrade on WoW since release right?

Yep! So do most other MMOs. Rift's done one and it honestly didn't change much. There's only so much you can do to a base product if you design it poorly from the start. WoW's done two or three that I can remember (one of the major ones with cata (vastly better water rendering, for one), an early one sometime in BC). Those upgrades + the higher polygon armors, weapons and mounts are fantastic - all without interfering with the original aesthetic of the game.

Probably the only "huge" complaint I have with WoW's graphics now are trees. They're mostly fine from a long distance away, but as soon as you get close, or try to fly through them or above them, they get really ugly really fast. Entire zones are basically ruined by shitty looking trees; un'goro crater, large sections of stranglethorn and duskwood come to mind.

 

[Lictor Face]

Supreme Commander and Forged Alliance still manage to impress me. Despite the fact that it is nearly a six year old game.

No other RTS have been able to produce such a visual spectacle of a 4v4 SupCom match

 

[major_chaos]

Personally I think the only games that haven't aged well are either the extremely old (such as 8-bit or ASCII) and games from the early 3D era that didn't bother to use stylized graphics to hide their flaws (deus ex, System shock 2, Perfect dark ect.)

 

[immortalfrieza]

Well, I've never cared much about graphics, as long as they're good enough that I can tell what it is I'm looking at, it's good enough for me, though good ones help. Having said that, I'd say it was around the PS2/GameCube/Xbox console generation when graphics got to the point where they were good enough to age pretty well going forward. Just about every game from the aforementioned systems that I've ever played have stood the test of time.

 

[veloper]

Do Crysis and AssCreed Count? Just last week I realized how relatively old they are already. And how old am I, damn.

Seriously? No.
The last 7 years have seen relatively little change in the gfx department. A bunch of games like the Metro series have gone further, but Crysis is still where most modern shooters are currently at. Crysis 2 actually looks a bit worse than the original.
You'll need to go a bit further back than that. Finding an old OpenGL 1.x game that still holds up is where the challenge begins. Maybe Return to castle Wolfenstein, but it already shows.

 

[Charli]

Honestly? World of Warcraft.

They went for a very unique aesthetic style, one that never really lost its charm; it was certainly cheesy the first time I encountered it, but unlike pretty much every other MMO striving for maximum graphical quality of the time that all get outdated in 2-3 years, WoW has stayed "fine" for 8+. It's blocky, especially with lower graphical settings, but considering the game's age, it's not hard at all to crank it up to Ultra with a massive view range, and entire zones become absolutely mind-blowing. Vashjir has long stretches of bright, vibrant colors, Tanaris gives a great feeling of a desert stretching into the horizon, Jade Forest is just... damn. They're pretty amazing, even though the graphics are "dated."

Also helps that all the gear and mounts post-BC have been really high quality as well, unlike the polygon-o-rama of the original stuff.

Spoiler: WoW pics

Vashjir, an entire zone at the bottom of an ocean

Pureblood Fire Hawk mount added in Cataclysm

Jade Forest, Pandaria

Vortex Pinnacle, a dungeon in the skies above Uldum

Games like Rift and Aion are pretty at launch, but very quickly become dated, and end up looking plain ugly. Every time I've gone back to WoW, it only takes maybe 15 minutes to re-adjust to the aesthetic and I'm enjoying it all over again. Blizzard struck a goldmine with that look.

*Motions all of this in large sweeping motions*

WoW is a smart game. In alot of ways, it knows it's style is cartoony and makes the most of it to go all out with a graphic choice that really has only recently started to show needing some tweaks here and there, if only to gloss over the fact that the updated engine and the older textures and graphics can be so much more elegant now creating a bit of dissonance between items/objects made recently and those still hanging around from the earliest days.

Observe:

Spoiler: Froggies!

2004:

2012:

...Are you LOOKING at that? The style is still cartoony, and blocky, but the constraints of their engine means they really have to push to get the detail and the result is actually something very nice and unique to look at.

 

[Dominic Crossman]

Sonic genesis games, escpasilly sonic 3

 

[MrBaskerville]

Silent Hill 3 still looks amazing and still looks better than any Silent Hill game released this generation. I also think that Dungeon Master 2 is one of the prettiest games ever made, everything in that game just looks perfect, but that's also handdrawn so obviously it doesn't age as much as ugly 3D would. (Would like to post a link, but i'm writing from an iPad so it's a bit inconvenient :/.

Metal Gear Solid 2 is also one of those games tha continues to surprise me visually, it jst looks great whenever i boot it up, still holds up better than a lot of newer games are going to in the future. Need For Speed 3 Hot Pursuit 2 is another one of those, i think it's the level design that makes the difference, it looks a lot better than any other NFS game on ps2, there's something really pretty about the enviroments.

One last thought: Windwaker still looks stunning, i still can't believe that game was made in the previous generation, it still outshines any current cell shaded games, any cell shaded games actually.

 

[MrBaskerville]

The metal slugs series? they still have some of the best pixel art ive ever seen.

Spoiler

Agreed, there's so much detail in those games. It's the little things, subtle animations and stuff like that that makes all the difference in the world. You could stare at a Metal Slug game for hours and you would constantly be able to find stuff you never noticed before. Every image is packed with details, it's so dense... or something like that

 

[Saulkar]

I have four really good examples.

Redline: Gang Warfare 2066


High resolution textures, smart colour palette, distinct aesthetic design, and a rocking draw distance to take it all in puts this game on the top tier of the late 90s pseudo realistic graphics.

This next game was released in late 1999 but many still argue that it only became widely available in 2000. As for why it has aged so well? Take a look.


One of those games that is not cartoonish yet not realistic, a stylised realism that works wonders for the overall atmosphere.


This next game is one of the best looking 3D RTS released in the 90s. Ultimately the lack of attempting to emulate realism works well in its favour.


Lastly, this game:


The PC port of course.

 

[Tyelcapilu]

This next game was released in late 1999 but many still argue that it only became widely available in 2000. As for why it has aged so well? Take a look.


One of those games that is not cartoonish yet not realistic, a stylised realism that works wonders for the overall atmosphere.

Personally there was a charm about the first one that I liked more, and the most aesthetically spectacular level I can recall would have to be io.
The 'first' time I played on Io (after not touching the game for 10 years), I ended up taking a minute to really absorb the fact that jupiter was taking up 80% of the sky. Not accurate, but if the mission was on Mimas...

 

[MrBaskerville]

I see you guys here must be pretty young.
Here's some games that I can grant you are still as enjoyable now as they were back in the days.


- The Secret of Monkey Island

- Sonic The Hedgehog

- Oddworld: Abe's Odyssey

- Lemmings

- Discworld

- Command & Conquer: Red Alert 2




Did they age well graphically?
Yes, because they're the type of games that completely trascend graphics.

I mean, a game like Heavenly Sword or even Uncharted is going to age bad over time, when the graphics will no longer be amazing.
The games I mentioned have nothing to do with their graphics quality, tho.

Secret of Monkey Island looks amazing, i love the way they used colors in that one. The remake? Not so much...

 

[Saulkar]

I ended up taking a minute to really absorb the fact that jupiter was taking up 80% of the sky.

Fucking hell, I remember that map. There is always something so ominously haunting about a planet, not just any planet, but a gas giant hovering over your head. Immense, toxic, suffocating, dark, both cold and hot, simply unknowable! It is like there are tentative forces beyond gravity propping up the planet, delicate in nature, always ready to snap and bring it down upon you, soooooooo far from home and a life sustaining environment (spoiler)...

Or maybe I just have an irrational fear of people dropping stuff on my head.